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Masha Borak

You might get more than you bargained for when swiping through Tinder in Hong Kong. As the city rolls into its third month of unrest, some are using the popular dating app to invite people out into the streets.
So it’s come to this—I’m getting protest info on Tinder pic.twitter.com/bMfRYCJv1T
— Gavin Huang (黄藹禧) (@GavinHuang) August 1, 2019
Posting information about protests on Tinder is just one of several creative ways Hongkongers are using tech to mobilise people. For more than eight weeks now, technology has been at the centre of organising demonstrations against a controversial extradition bill.
People primarily communicate through Telegram groups and stream their actions on gaming platform Twitch. As violence has escalated in recent weeks, though, police have been cracking down harder. So now protesters are resorting to more unorthodox methods of organising and communicating online.
One of those methods, apart from Tinder, is Pokémon Go. 
When the Hong Kong police denied protesters permission to march in one of the city’s suburban neighbourhoods on safety grounds, the protesters decided to say that they weren’t going for a march – they were just showing up for a game of Pokémon Go.

The march in Yuen Long on July 27 was held in response to violent attacks on protesters a week earlier from more than 100 white-clad assailants, with some of those arrested having links to triad gangs. This protest ended like many others – not with Pokémon, but with violence, tear gas and rubber bullets.
Another way protesters spread their message is through Apple’s AirDrop. 
In the old days, people would walk the streets and distribute leaflets to communicate their political causes. These days, the political messages have moved to the cloud, with images sent directly to recipients’ phones – unsolicited. On Hong Kong subways, people have been receiving posters inviting them to protest through the service that allows Apple devices to send files to each other. The latest call to action involved a general strike that was held on Monday.
Finally got airdropped stuff on the train. Posters calling for a general strike next Monday #FreedomHK pic.twitter.com/UPTjSLITUY
— Zoe Low (@ziqinglow) August 2, 2019
The tool has also been used to communicate with tourists from mainland China. China’s Great Firewall has largely limited reports on the Hong Kong protests to those in line with government views. This includes information found on social media such as Douyin, China’s version of TikTok. 
Since AirDrop is peer-to-peer, protesters are able to send information directly to mainland tourists travelling to Hong Kong.
Not all forms of protest communication are as inventive, though. Much of the hard work of organising protests has been done on more traditional online forums such as LIHKG, dubbed the Hong Kong Reddit.
This article originally appeared on Abacus


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How Hong Kong protesters are using Tinder and Pokémon Go

Protesters are resorting to more unorthodox methods of organising and communicating online. Illustration: Abacus

This poster inviting people for a game of Pokémon Go appeared on Reddit-like forum LIHGK. Besides hunting Pokémon, people were also invited to participate in other activities such as sightseeing to defy the assembly ban. (Picture: lihkh.com)

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Protesters are turning to Tinder, Pokémon Go and Apple’s AirDrop to spread messages
Tech has been at the centre of demonstrations against a controversial extradition bill



Protesters are turning to Tinder, Pokémon Go and Apple’s AirDrop to spread messages.


How Hong Kong protesters are using Tinder and Pokémon Go

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Protesters are turning to Tinder, Pokémon Go and Apple’s AirDrop to spread messages Tech has been at the centre of demonstrations against a controversial extradition bill

Protesters are turning to Tinder, Pokémon Go and Apple’s AirDrop to spread messages

Tech has been at the centre of demonstrations against a controversial extradition bill